Counterfeit makeup a growing problem

Adam Walser, WFTS

3:38 PM, Jan 1, 2014

7:27 PM, Jan 1, 2014

U.S. Homeland Security agents are seeing counterfeit versions of just about everything penetrating our borders, including fake purses, sneakers and even cell phone accessories. But 10News' sister station WFTS discovered that other things making the l

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“When you buy a legitimate product, you have the confidence that the manufacturer is held to certain standards. When you buy a counterfeit item, there's absolutely no guarantee,” said Folden.

Earlier this month, a representative of a counterfeit MAC website sent the I-Team an e-mail claiming more than 95 percent of sellers on eBay buy from her company.

We bought two MAC products from eBay.

An employee of a local MAC store confirmed that eye shadow from a Tampa powerseller is real, but lipstick we bought from a Riverview woman is counterfeit.

We paid $13 for the counterfeit lipstick. We went to the MAC store, where we bought the real thing for $15.

When we tried to talk to the woman who sold us the counterfeit product, she wouldn't do an on camera interview, but she told us the name of the Chinese website where she bought the product.

We found the lipstick for sale there for less than a dollar.

Counterfeit MAC has also turned up on Amazon.

“I ordered a blush from the Hello Kitty collection,” said a Florida teen on her online fashion blog. “I was like OK, it's gonna be real for $10. It wasn't. I've never had an issue with Amazon before, so really didn't expect anything.”

Amazon began selling merchandise for third parties several years ago, giving the company less control over each individual item.

But a spokesperson tells the I-Team that Amazon won't tolerate sellers of counterfeit products.

The company's policy is to kick them off the site and destroy any counterfeit products that end up in Amazon's distribution warehouses.

A side-by-side comparison shows how difficult it can be to tell the real thing from the fake.

You can see differences in bar codes, product color labels and even the sheen of the metal.

But experts say the best way to be positive you're getting the real thing is to buy from an authorized retailer or the company's official website, even if it's not as big of a bargain.

“Generally, if something's priced too good to believe it, it's generally too good to believe it,” said Folden.